1/36With style like this, you gotta get the stance right. To tuck the new wide whites further up in the wheelwells, we cut two coils for the front springs and used 3-inch blocks in the rear with new, upgraded 7/16 U-bolts. The U-bolts cost more than the paint.

One consistent fact of hot-rodding life is that getting a decent paint job on a car is costly and incredibly time-consuming. The materials and tools are expensive, and even with ample time many people possess neither the patience nor the skill to pull off a nice paint job at home. The alternative is to pay someone else, and that means shelling out huge dollars for nice paint or medium-sized bucks for a quickie, one-day deal that is often of lower quality than you'd hoped for. Every member of the HOT ROD staff has gone through the process so many times before that the phrase "budget paint job" is thought of as an oxymoron. But we've just been proven wrong.

For the past couple of years a rumor has been circulating around the Internet that there is a way to paint your car using common enamel paint and-get this-a roller, and end up with a car that's as slick as a traditional spray job. After a good full-body cringe, our curiosity took over and we began digging around to find out more about the legend of the roller paint job. The search eventually led us back to a post on the Moparts.com (www.moparts.com) message board that had been on going for a year and a half with over 100 pages. Basically the story goes that common Rust-Oleum (or Tremclad in Canada), when thinned to an extreme, can be applied to a car with high-density foam rollers, and after several layers, a few sessions of wet-sanding, and some quality time with a high-speed buffer, the final result is a very presentable paint job with a tiny monetary investment. We read the whole post and it still sounded like little more than urban legend-but a few guys had posted photos of their excellent results and it made us reconsider. Could it actually be true? There was only one way to find out, so we selected a victim from the dozen or so cars loitering behind the HOT ROD shop and prepared to put the theory to the test.

2/36What better car to apply $23.74 worth of paint to than a $200 '62 Ford Falcon?

As you will see here, it works. The end result blows the minds of anyone who sees the car, and you'd never guess in a million years that it was painted with Rust-Oleum, a roller, and a few spray cans. Be advised, however, that there was plenty of elbow grease used on this project. Any paint job, even the high-end type that comes out of a gun and paint booth, requires loads of pre-prep to get the body straight and a considerable amount of post-paint work to color-sand and buff the paint to its highest gloss. This method is no different-but man, you can't beat the price.

Pros

Tiny investment leaves money for other stuff.

Minimal safety equipment necessary.

No spray booth necessary.

Easy cleanup.

Great way to let kids help.

Good conversation starter.

Easy to touch up.

Cons

Time-consuming.

Labor-intensive.

Only basic enamel finish.

Limited color availability even with custom mixes.

No metallic colors.

Would we do it again? Being on an editorial deadline can suck the fun out of a project like this, but without that hanging over our heads we'd have to say that the experience was enjoyable. You just need realistic expectations. If you want a perfect show car glossy paint job, this isn't for you. On the other hand, if you want a paint job that's cheap and will still get you thumbs-ups on the road, it's a great way to get some color on that project you've been putting off because it's difficult to justify the expenditure on paint. We'll definitely admit that the finish isn't ideal for all types of cars, but on this car we'd absolutely do it again.

Day 1

6/36When spraying a car on the quick, it's easy to just mask off trim and go for it. The ultra-thinned paint we'll be rolling on will result in lots of drips and runs initially, though, so it's best to remove all the trim to avoid heavy buildup in the cracks and crevices.

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DAY 1 Cont'd

DAY 2

DAY 3

Day 4

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

How Much Did It Cost?One of our pet peeves is a magazine story that touts something like a $98 paint job, but reading between the lines reveals mutiple freebies or parts that "just happened to be lying around" that were never tallied in the total cost. That sorta happened here, but we've accounted for everything needed to finish the paint job and makeover below. We painted the car at the HOT ROD shop, the scene of several paint stories over the years, so we had some tools already which were not included in the total cost of the paint job, but factor them in if you're starting from scratch. Our Falcon needed some bodywork that other cars may not, so "your price may vary," but here's our cost breakdown.

ToolsWe used our Dura-Block kit from Eastwood since we had it, but basic long and/or short blocks available from a local parts store will work just fine.

Dura-Block kit

$69.99

Individual blocks

$5-$20

High-speed buffer: Makita sander/polishers like ours are pricey, but you can buy polishers that will get the job done as cheap as $30, and you can also rent one from a tool supply shop. If you have a random orbital buffer or dual-action sander, it can be used with the right pads.

Low-Buck MakeoverIn addition to the paint job, we also wanted to give the Falcon a bit of a makeover with some scallops, pinstripes, a better stance, and wheels and tires as well as fresh chrome on the bumpers. If you'd like to copy us, here's what the makeover cost: